District 5 Diary

Rob Anderson's commentary on San Francisco politics from District 5

Monday, August 14, 2006

What happened to the six-month trial?

The "trial" referred to in the title is contained in Board of Supervisors' Resolution 0508-04, carried by then-Supervisor Gonzalez, that called for banning a right turn onto the new freeway ramp on Market St. across from Octavia Blvd. Gonzalez carried the resolution on behalf of the SF Bicycle Coalition, which of course thinks that even marginally safer streets for cyclists should trump all other considerations in the city. Hence, motorists driving toward downtown from upper Market St. are prohibited from making a right turn directly onto the new freeway ramp and must wind their way through the South of Market St. neighborhood to get on the freeway. The city even installed a permanent-looking bulb-out to discourage motorists from making the sensible right turn. But the text of the resolution says that the no-right-turn ban is a six-month trial, after which the Department of Parking and Traffic "shall report its findings to the Board of Supervisors at the end of that period." It's now been a year, and still we haven't seen any DPT report, and my request for information to Supervisor Mirkarimi has been ignored. In short, the whole "trial" story was evidently a lie and the no-turn ban was intended to be permanent all along.